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Just the Facts

Just the Facts

Avera Children's Hospital and Avera Medical Group Pediatric Specialists offer a continuum of care for your family, including Pediatricians and Family Practice Physicians at Avera Medical Group McGreevy, a variety of children's specialists, and urgent care and CuraQuick clinics for after-hours care. Avera McKennan Emergency is also designed to provide efficient, top-quality pediatric emergency care averaging just 20 minutes door to doctor and just over 2 hours from arrival to discharge or hospital admission. Learn more about our continuum of care »

Children who visit us have the advantage of being close to these areas, where they may go for treatment, testing or therapy. In the event of a medical emergency, you can rest assured that every precious second will be spent performing the best possible care for your child, rather than in transit from location to location.

Visitors and parents will also enjoy that they don't have to travel far to access services like our cafeteria and gift shop.

It's all part of an approach that puts you and your family at the center of care and allows you to focus on what's really important: the health and well-being of your family.

Avera Children's continuum of care

Unparalleled Children's Behavioral Health Services

An environment of Joy, Family and Healing

Kid-Friendly, Even in an Emergency

Avera CareView - telemedicine connecting doctors and patients

Neonatal Intensive Care (Level IIIC NICU)

Leading care

Our strong tradition of leading the region in children's care continues today at Avera Children's Hospital. This hospital within a hospital features all the capabilities of a free-standing children's hospital, along with many unique features that make us the best choice when it comes to your child's health care.

With 110+ beds devoted solely to the care of infants, children and adolescents, Avera Children's Hospital includes our Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, a Pediatric Unit, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and the region and city's only specialized child and adolescent units at the Avera Behavioral Health Center.

We offer 20 distinct pediatric specialties and subspecialties - 30+ physicians with the expertise to care for virtually any child. This includes advanced critical care and trauma, neonatology, specialized surgery, cardiology and more.

Our Promise

Everything involving patient care at Avera McKennan is centered on the family. As valuable partners in your child's care, we keep you involved every step of the way. We know kids, but we also understand that you know your children best and are a crucial resource for help and information throughout our partnership.

Here are just a few ways Avera Children's Hospital demonstrates our commitment to family-centered care:

Parents and siblings are welcome 24 hours a day - even in our NICU.

Siblings are not only allowed, but encouraged to visit babies at the bedside-a feature that distinguishes us from other area hospitals.

Avera Children's Hospital takes special steps to prepare children for a hospital stay, and help them adjust and thrive while here.

The Mother's Nest provides a home-like area for moms to stay with their babies in the NICU, even overnight.

Using our special Baby Cam videophones, families can see and visit with each other whenever they like. One videophone is located in the NICU and the other is placed in the family's home.

We place a strong emphasis on breastfeeding. The number of NICU graduates breastfeeding at discharge triples the national average.

Computers are available for family use, as well as wireless access.

Child Life Specialists give families pre-admission tours, use play as a diversion before or during procedures, help children and their siblings understand a diagnosis or treatment, and provide developmental play and therapeutic activities. For more information about our Child Life program or to speak with one of our specialists, Twila or Leah, call 605-322-3629.

During surgery, families are given pagers, so they know immediately when their child is taken to recovery. We've long recognized that having the family present while the child is in the hospital is very important for comprehensive care. Families can literally "move in" when a child is hospitalized, with provisions such as pull-out couches, meals and snacks, even laundry facilities.

Classes & Education

We offer a wide range of parent and family education classes including topics like temperament, positive discipline and potty training.